In 2018, Women Political Leaders came together with Kantar Public to create the Reykjavík Index for Leadership – the world’s first measure of society’s perceptions of women and men’s suitability to lead.
The Reykjavík Index for Leadership reminds us that perceptions are critical. We ask government, business, and civil society to use this evidence to support action as we work to create a society where we all have an equal opportunity to serve through leadership.
Reykjavik Index for 2022-2023
It was at The Reykjavik Global Forum, on 8 November 2022 in Iceland, that we shared the early headlines from the latest Reykjavík Index for Leadership.
The collective response from the many global leaders from across politics, business, NGOs, and academia, was one of frustration and dismay – that after five years of measuring perceptions of women’s suitability for leadership, we appear to have made little discernible progress as a global society on viewing women and men as equally suitable to lead.
This should give everyone cause for concern.
The 2022 Power, Together Awards were awarded to the The African Leadership Institute, The Council of Women World Leaders, NalaFem, The United Nations Foundation, and Women and girls of Iran during the Reykjavík Global Forum. The Power, Together Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of organisations that advance an agenda of more representative leadership worldwide.
The 2022 Power, Together Awards recognises the meaningful contributions of all of these organisations (and movements) and their affiliated initiatives, all of which showcase the activating power of partnerships and collaboration in driving sustainable solutions for the world. By providing a platform to recognise the work of all these different parties and to make connections, engage in discussion and share best practices, we build momentum for a truly global movement where all those involved work hand in hand towards the same goal: collective action and commitment to sustain positive change.
The 2021 Power, Together Awards were awarded to the World Economic Forum’s community of Young Global Leaders®, the Global Goals World Cup, and Fora during the Reykjavik Global Forum. The Power, Together Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of organisations that advance an agenda of more representative leadership worldwide.
“The theme of this year’s Reykjavik Global Forum is Power, Together for Progress. The 2021 Power, Together Awards recipients are at the forefront of powering progress for more women in leadership around the world.” says Silvana Koch-Mehrin, President & Founder of Women Political Leaders. “Working together, the Reykjavik Global Forum community strives to change perceptions, challenge tomorrow, and advance society. This is why we celebrate the successes of the 2021 Power, Together Award winners.”
The Forum of Young Global Leaders is aligned with the mission of the World Economic Forum, and seeks to drive public-private cooperation in the global public interest. Their diverse community of leaders across borders and across sectors has more than 1,400 members and alumni of 120 nationalities, including civic and business innovators, entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, educators, activists, artists, journalists, and more. Mariah Levin, Head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, will accept the award.
“We are honoured to accept the Power Together Award. Inclusion is at the core of our mission – the Forum of Young Global Leaders was established to broaden traditional views on leadership and introduce new role models into public imagination,” Levin said. “We are motivated by the data that diversity strengthens outcomes in the public interest and are proud to have advanced opportunities for women leaders across sectors and countries. We also recognize the global gains made to diversify leadership fall short of our collective ambitions, and will continue to set new standards for responsible and inclusive leadership by supporting and profiling exceptional women role models.”
The Reykjavík Manual is a new practical guide that draws together the insights, best practices and solutions offered by women leaders worldwide. It is a living document that continues to evolve as an innovative toolkit for all leaders to use in their efforts to build forward to a more sustainable and equitable world.
Download The Reykjavík Manual |
The Reykjavík Manual was launched at the Reykjavík Global Forum 2020 to collate the voices, perspectives and best practices of women leaders on how to drive a sustainable and inclusive recovery in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Women Political Leaders (WPL) launched the initial chapter of the Reykjavík Manual on Gender Equality (Sustainable Development Goal 5) at the Davos Agenda in January 2021. Once completed, the Reykjavík Manual will consist of seventeen chapters, each concentrating on a separate Sustainable Development Goal and all proposing pathways for progress while putting the voices of women leaders at the centre.
Please be sure to check back, as new chapters of this innovative toolkit will continue to be published throughout 2021!
A positive actionable pledge initiates progress. The Reykjavík Global Forum encourages the use of The Conversationist Pledge to ensure that we walk the talk, walk the Forum’s conversation: to increase the action and subsequent positive change that comes from the Forum.
At the Reykjavík Global Forum 2019, all Conversationists are invited (but not obliged) to make a pledge: a commitment to a concrete and measurable action, in line with the Forum’s purpose, for the next 12 months. The pledge can be personal, or on behalf of the company or organisation a Conversationist represents. The pledge can be big or small, involve money or not, can be local or global – each Conversationist takes an individual choice.
A pledge can be submitted to the Reykjavík Global Forum at any time.
A pledge submission must state clearly:
The pledge should have indications of time frame and ways to measure outcomes. While there is and remains free choice for the content of the Conversationist Pledges, they will be, over time, clustered thematically.
Conversationists will have the opportunity to announce their pledges during the Forum in Reykjavík. The Forum will recognise corporates and individuals as their pledges turn into measurable outcomes during a special ceremony. A pledge screen (interactive and constantly updated) will display the pledges made during the Forum. Progress of the pledges will be documented online at Reykjavík Global Forum website throughout the year.
The Forum will continue to promote the Community of Action between the annual gatherings in Reykjavik, giving it prominence in the rolling calendar:
Celebrating and amplifying the work of women who are fostering economic growth and social change.
The initiative highlights success stories of women leaders across sectors, and geographies and the power and potential of female leadership in shaping economies.
Their stories underscore the need for policies and practices that promote both equality and economic development.
Developed by the Reykjavík Global Forum – Women Leaders and powered by McKinsey & Company, the Women’s World Atlas 2021 (WWA) is a striking graphic illustration of the progression (if any) toward achieving parity between women and men in leadership across a variety of sectors.
While inequality is gradually being reduced in politics, countries have moved backwards in achieving actual parity between women and men in Parliaments. And while we continue to see improvement in women’s participation in tertiary education, as well as significant progress in the percentage of women in management positions, progress has been (and remains) glacial in terms of women on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies. Nevertheless, to effectively build forward, all these changes should be positively pronounced – which is why the WWA will continue to illustrate the pressing need for actions to realise equality between women and men.
The WWA also points to the ongoing need for all those in leadership positions – women and men – to Power, Together and bring equality between women and men to their respective sectors.
To understand what’s wrong in the world, there’s no better way than to visualise it.
Maps: